Holding On To Hope

God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;   Psalm 46:1-2

Hard times come in many different ways for each of us. No matter who we are or what we have, we can expect problems. God is not promising us a life without it but instead letting us know that He will be our refuge and strength in the midst of any and ALL our struggles. 

Our hope is not in other people or even in ourselves but in Him. I find that comforting because I know that I don't always get it right. God has brought me through so many things that were of my own doing. God has also brought me through many more things that were not of my own doing. 

God is our only HOPE in everything! 

This picture was taken around the historical area of Fernandina Beach,  January 2013

People Problems

Exodus 2:14-15 Then he said, "Who made you a prince and a judge over us?" So Moses feared and said "Surely this thing is known!" When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well.

Moses had killed an Egyptian to protect a Hebrew and now they were turning on him. How many times do the people we invest ourselves in turn on us?

When Moses fled from Egypt he met his wife and began his family. God used a bad circumstance for good and Moses became more spiritually prepared to lead the Hebrew people. When we find ourselves in a situation where we are rejected or let down by people we need to let God be the one to make it right for our life. I personally believe that God is able to use the pain and hurting emotions to fuel us to do something that will benefit others.

Remember God didn't put us here to fulfill the purpose of others but instead His own purpose for our life!

This is a picture taken of the view from my mom's house in Spain, 2006

Stinking Thinking

 Proverbs 23:7aFor as he thinketh in his heart, so is he...

Zig Ziglar wrote this in a book I read when I was 21 years old that changed my life. He described me exactly in his example and gave action steps to take to change the cycle forever. I changed my behaviors at a very young age and can say now in my 60’s, I have maintained it because I work at it daily. 

There is no magic cure to stop thinking negatively but instead there are action steps that need to be done in order to begin and it takes work. Don't look at people you believe have a good attitude that they don't have the problems you have or that they were given some type of good attitude genes that never made it to your family gene pool. That is only a negative behavior that is telling you that you can't have it, so STOP listening to it! 

So begin now with a better attitude by working on it daily. You won't regret the change!

Thinking about all the things that could go wrong doesn’t make life any more predictable.

 This picture was taken on one of my walks, February 18, 2010.